34. Agnor
The island of Agnor appears on the horizon, first just as a large column of fog that's coating the side of a mountain, but is eventually revealed to be a large island that fills the whole horizon - at least six miles long. ** They skirt the island to the right. ** Most of the land they see is being used for farming, with the occasional farm house dotted around. ** Just as night began to fall, they arrived at the town of Nor, built around the mouth of a slow river running from the mountain. There were no docks suitable for a sea-worthy vessel like the Drunken Dragon. ** The whole island appeared to be adapted for subsistence living: tonnes of farmland and livestock, some row boats for fishing, beekeepers making wax candles, etc. They didn't do trade with outsiders. ** The locals all came to stare at the strange new arrivals. All of them were human, so the sight of a goblin, half-elf, elf, and a gnome in the party drew much of their attention. ** A brief negotiation results in the party being allowed to stay in the house of a man named Oren, on the condition they work to make up for their stay. Since it was late, they'd be doing this in the morning. ** The townsfolk were aware that they'd likely come to speak with the Seers of Agnor, who they all referred to as 'the Siblings.' ** As they're travelling to Oren's place, they hear him being told that the condition of someone called Lerna has worsened. * Cormorant and Aerendyl decide to investigate the injured Lerna while the others settle into the extra room in Oren's cottage. ** The pair are taken to an infirmary of sorts. It's a building consisting mostly of a low-roofed room with a number of ventilation slits where the walls meet the ceiling. It stinks of rot and sickness. ** Five sick bodies are on cots in the room, while an older woman busies herself mostly with washing them or keeping the rag cloths on their foreheads damp. ** Cormorant inspects Lerna, finding that he had a deep cut on his palm that hasn't healed properly and has since gone gangrenous and putrid. The others in the room have the same injury. ** Further, while three of the five are sleeping fitfully, Lerna and one of the others are awake though their eyes aren't lucid. They're rocking slightly in their cots and their mouths constantly move to sound out incomprehensible, mumbled ravings. ** When the pair question the nurse on what's going on, she is curt and dismissive of outsiders coming to their home and telling them how to live. These people are like this because of their petitions, as is the role of the Voices. It is not for them to decide whether they should live or die from here on, merely to make them more comfortable while whatever is going to happen happens. ** The duo take their leave, with Cormorant keen to help the man but unwilling to walk in the face of the island community's culture and tradition to do so. ** On the street, they're shepherded to a dark alley by a teenage girl. She introduces herself as Nicole, Lerna's daughter, and asks if they can really help him. She doesn't want her father to die, and since his petition was only for information on this year's crops - something that benefits the whole island, not just himself - she can't help but think that he shouldn't be punished for it. ** She strikes a deal with them: if they're here to see the Siblings, like all outsiders who come to Agnor always are, then they'll need a guide to take them up the climb and someone to act as the Voice once they arrive. She tells them she can do this - though she's never done it on her own, she's been with her father in the past. So if they help him, she'll help them. ** The plan they agree on is to meet up with Nicole again in two hours, after sneaking out. Then they'll go treat Lerna, and at first light in the morning they'll meet her again at the edge of the forest beyond the top of the town to begin the ascent. * The healing duo return to Oren's house, tell the party about the weird things they encountered, and get ready to sneak out in the night to heal Lerna's hand and arm. ** Aerendyl casts a spell to aid their stealth mission, but it feels different to usual. It's harder to weave the spell, and there's almost a finality to the process. The spell works as it normally does, but it's punctuated by a slight popping in the back of his mind. ** The elf explains this to the group and Wilfred casts a couple spells too, confirming that the access to the Weave seems to be stifled, like it's somehow harder to grasp. ** Aerendyl uses shape water, moving the contents of his waterskin around in the air experimentally. However, as he does so, the usually crystalline blue water of Faerie that he uses to cast his spells changes in the air, beginning to glow like the moon, looking like a ribbon of light in the air. He puts it away in the wineskin again, but checks the moon to see he has a few hours before he can deal with the summons. The rest of the group are none the wiser, since he doesn't mention anything odd about it, and weird magical things are exactly what they were experimenting for anyway. ** When it comes time to sneak, Aerendyl wild shapes into a spider, maintaining his Pass without Trace spell as he climbs onto Cormorant. The pair then sneak out the house, through the only other room in the building, Oren's room. ** The town is at this time pitch black; all the lantern light has been put out and the moon had only phased half its way to full. The town, it seemed, was all on one schedule. ** They met up with Nicole, Aerendyl scouted out the infirmary as a spider - finding the large room empty except for the five sick people, and the nurse asleep in a side room - and the three of them went in. The door wasn't locked. ** Cormorant's surgery combined with the strongest healing magic Aerendyl can manage are able to stave off the infection on Lerna's arm, clean the wound, and leave it bandaged properly. Though he's by no means cured, by the end of the process it did appear as if his life was no longer in immediate danger. ** With the breaking of his fever came a clarity in his voice, and they could faintly make out the words he'd been saying in his whispered ravings: 'let me out, let me out, let me out, let me out . . .' ** Nicole can't answer Cormorant's inquiries too much. She knows that it's the sort of thing people say when they're close to changing, and she knows her father had mentioned ignoring the whispers, but that's it. She doesn't elaborate on either. ** They leave the building and part ways, Nicole happy that her father's condition seems to have gotten better. She confirms again that they'll be meeting at first light then leaves the group. ** Aerendyl uses his fey step to teleport Cormorant back into the side room in Oren's house, saving him from having to sneak through the room with the sleeping man inside. The elf then goes off on his own to deal with his Faerie acquaintance. ** Wilfred teleports outside, polymorphs into an owl, and tries to follow Aerendyl. However, the elf yet again uses Pass without Trace and so the owlish gnome has no luck in following him. Pyt has Jolene invisibly follow Wilfred, but the pair quickly return when Aerendyl gets away. ** Alone on the coast, Aerendyl forms his Faerie water into a mirror-like shape hanging in the air. It glows again with a pure white light, and when the phasing moon above briefly held its full form, the surface gleamed like a mirror. Aerendyl's reflected face was stern, and the words from it weren't his own: *** 'There's a wrongness here, dear friend. I'd advise caution.' *** 'I know,' Aerendyl replied. 'We can all feel it.' *** 'I suspect it's the Gloaming Bitch, or some of her ilk. Make me proud.' ** And as quickly as that, the phasing moon was no longer full, the River King was gone, and Aerendyl's water had returned to its regular azure shade. ** He used misty step to teleport back into the side room of Oren's house. ** The group went to sleep, save for Clwyd who stayed up keeping watch. * They all awoke before sunrise. Those who had used magic the day before found they were no closer to the Weave even after resting - they recovered none of their spell slots on the Long Rest. ** Aerendyl awoke wearing his autumn season. The one that makes him unflinching. ** Some of the group opted not to sneak out the house, and in so doing they woke Oren. ** He confronted them, they lied a bit about going to pick mushrooms, and Oren told them they were to work the fields, as agreed. The people of Agnor had been messed around by outsiders before. ** Besides, he said, they needed to send for a Voice from the town of Ag on the islands other side to accompany the group up the mountain if they wanted to speak with the Siblings, so there was no sense in them trying to go now. ** When Oren excused himself to get changed and take the group to the fields they were to work, they left. Pyt dropped some gold coins on the floor and Clwyd left one of the jade chips she'd gotten from the goblins of the Sparker. Both of them knew a subsistence society has no need for money, but they did it anyway. ** They then opted to sneak through town, which used a lot of their pre-daylight time. ** They met Nicole at the edge of the forest, but they were over an hour late now. She was visibly agitated, saying the climb would be harder, but she didn't press the issue. She just pushed to walk quickly through the forest and try and make up for lost time. ** The fog that rolled across the ground got thicker as they went through the forest, such that when they arrived at the base of the mountain they could hardly see their surroundings. ** Before they began their climb, Nicole told them that there were no secrets on the ascent of Agnor Mountain. They needed to be ready for the rest of the group to learn things about them. They needed to be at peace with this possibility if they were to get to the summit. The group agreed. * They began their trek up the winding walkway of Agnor mountain. ** Nicole had them walk close together, her at their front. She bid they follow her steps and path as carefully as they could. ** And so the group walked up the mountain. The process took many hours. Nicole looked exhausted from the effort. ** Periodically, she had to stop and throw some of the meat she'd brought in a sack to the fog-covered mountain-side of the path. Hidden in the fog at these times were whispering, conversing figures. ** This happened on four separate occasions on the climb, and Nicole used all her luring bait getting the group to the top. She also kept shushing them when they tried to hash out their concerns about the secrets of the group that were being spoken in the fog. * The four times they encountered the whispering creatures, the party had to endure the unseen figures discussing intimate secrets about them all, and then judging them for it. These were the things said: ** That one grew up an outcast because she can't stand the ocean even though its all her people know! How embarrassing. I bet none of them loved her because of that. ** This one killed an outcast! Joan the Goat, they called her, and she'd had an awful life. But he killed her and stole everything she'd worked on. Killed her dead and ran away, and kept the knowledge for himself. What a horrible man. ** That one got a little girl turned to stone just to hide away and save his own skin! Then they all abandoned her. Sickening. ** Look! Look! What's even the point of this one's life?! He raved all alone for hundreds of years, and now he's a slave to keep the raving at bay. But he was supposed to be a king. Look at him now. ** That one isn't ready to do this. She doesn't think she can. She's not qualified. ** His little servant's made from the spirit of the cat he was supposed to look after! He killed it dead and didn't tell the others, then he lied to them about it when they asked what happened. All he does is lie. ** He had a baby! No, no! Not a baby, since it wasn't born. His lady friend left then. She was upset but how could he have ever understood?! Men are so stupid. ** Her family were murdered and she stayed down below. She's told them all she didn't know it was happening. Told herself that too. But maybe she's just a coward. Maybe she just let everyone she ever cared about get killed. Maybe she should have been killed too. ** Look! Look! That one's parents died such pointless deaths! And now he barely even thinks about them any more. What a terrible son. ** Haha! This idiot's convinced himself he works for Mab! ** That one's dad was the Northern Margrave! But he's just an embarrassment. Ran from home and lived like a pirate. Killed a lot, stole a lot. He never deserved the love he got. ** Look! She's planning on convincing tieflings to join her in hellfire. But she knows it's a problem because she hasn't spoken to the old man about it. So many secrets! ** Amber and Jebeddo left when he was a baby! And old master Lyra wouldn't answer any of his questions! It really looks like none of them cared about him at all, doesn't it? ** Oh look! He wants to die with Elise! How cute! How romantic! How pointless and stupid - fighting for his death like that. He's just convinced himself that's what a man's supposed to do. What childish pride. * They reach the summit of the mountain. ** The fog was a low roll here, thinner even than on the forest floor below. They could see it forming off the surface of a putrid lake that dominated the summit of the mountain. In the distant horizon on the stagnant waters sat an island with several wooden buildings. The floor around the lake was covered in creeping black vines. ** Nicole knelt by the edge of the water and asked the party if they were ready to commune. They said they were, and so she cut her palm deeply and plunged it into the foul waters of the lake. Her blood began to darken the waters - far more blood than should be coming from the wound - and when her head fell back and lolled around to look at them all, her eyes rolled back so they were white and vein-filled, she spoke with three voices, none that were her own. ** And so the party spoke with the Siblings of Agnor, the Seers, who did indeed seem to know more than they should as they spoke. The voices were that of a man, and older woman, and a young girl. The man berated them, calling them arrogant. The girl thought they were beautiful, and was sure they had plenty of potential. The older woman had a more measured approach, and brokered a deal with the group: they'd brought nothing to offer as payment for their questions, but they were willing to trade in services. ** The Siblings asked what sort of questions the group wanted to ask. They made it clear that they can answer questions of the nature of the multiverse, secrets of history, or recurring happenings in the world - weather patterns, seasonal crops, and that sort of thing. They are also capable of finding out current happenings in the world, given time and enough information. But they can offer no help with moral judgements. ** The Siblings told the group that there was a council of witches in the world, a coven of covens, all of them wretched creatures that the world wants to be rid of. But if one of the covens was destroyed, the remaining two would ruin each other, so that's all that needs to be done. ** The girl sibling spoke of the coven of covens: 'Seven sunken sisters, deep below the waves. Five frozen maids who walk the ice-capped glades. And three hidden women, whom the earthfire obeys.' ** The elder woman said that one of the group knows of the latter, the trio. And after a brief discussion among themselves, the Siblings conclude that yes, sending the party after the trio would indeed be best. ** The girl sibling spoke then of the coven of three: 'maiden, mother, crone - distinct and different, but each a part of the other.' ** The offer they give the party was thus: for the death of one of the trio at the party's hands, they would answer one question. For two deaths, three questions. For all three deaths, they would answer six questions. ** However, the members of the trio would soon know if one of their kin were killed, so they'd best be ready when that time comes. It might be best to kill them in quick succession, if the party value their lives. ** During the conversation, the cat Clwyd had been holding broke free of her grip and ran back into the fog, trying to get away. ** With the conversation over, Nicole returns to herself, vomits violently into the lake, and quickly goes into shock from the excessive blood loss. Cormorant sorts her out, but she's clearly not in her right mind following the experience, and is obviously too weak to make the descent on her own. ** As the group are deciding what to do, two of the cats break free in quick succession and run into the putrid waters of the lake. The second one to do so emerges again afterwards, looks up at the group, and beckons them with a paw before returning under. ** Nicole murmurs that it's forbidden for them to go in the water. ** The party decide not to go in, Cormorant practically raving that it's the doing of the hags! The hags! * The party go to make their descent of the mountain. ** Aerendyl takes the form of a huge wolf and they lash Nicole to his back with rope. ** They use up a lot of their rations trying to bait the creatures in the fog over to the side - Nicole, in her inexperience, had used too much of the meat on the ascent so there was none left to get them back down. ** Wilfred, through detect magic, learned that the fog is actually a massive blanket of illusion magic. He dispelled an area of it, revealing the creatures in full. They were hunched-up humans, with thick calloses that had formed all over the bodies, their fingernails grown and filed to claws. In the space between their brow glowed a third eye, small and yellow, with three more little eyes above it in a vertical line. ** The party had a brief fight following the dispelling of the fog, but they honoured Nicole's wishes to not harm the creatures of the mountain - with Clwyd's Malak-esque thunderstep being one notable exception. But through flight, teleportation, the bounding leaps of a dire wolf, some web, and a lot of dodging, they made it past. ** To escape the final group of creatures, the party sacrificed a cat. When they'd decided to do so, Aerendyl snatched it in his wolf maw, snapped its neck with a jerk of the head, and tossed the warm corpse into the crowd of warped people. ** The party thus made it to the bottom of the mountain. ** Pyt, who had been holding off on casting spells on the island at all, was able to use dimension door to take Nicole to the infirmary and then return to the group. ** They sailed away from Agnor from one of the farmland shorelines. Anchoring in the waters off the island, they kept watch as they slept, but were unmolested by any of the foul things that bother these waters. The Siblings of Agnor, it seemed, really did contribute to keeping the island safe from harm. * The next day the party set sail again, intending to find log pins for the Pirate Republic, and pursue this new route to the answers they all sought. ** Of the five cats they'd taken onto the island with them, only the tortoiseshell made it back. Category:Part Four